The Story of Nicodemus | Easter 2018

[Music] [Music] [Music] as Nicodemus leaves his home he tries to tell himself that he's waited until dark because the streets have been so crowded but the truth is that he's afraid of being seen with the one he's going to see because Nicodemus is well known in Jerusalem he's a member of the Sanhedrin the Supreme Court of the Jewish people and many of his colleagues are set against Jesus because they fear he may be attempting to start some sort of rebellion they worry that even the slightest uproar might bring the whole fury of Rome down on their heads but Nicodemus isn't sure his whole life has been spent drawing clear boundaries around everything in order to make life make sense and he doesn't know quite what to make of Jesus he's curious so he set off into the darkness to ask Jesus who are you he finds him on a rooftop overlooking the city and Nicodemus suddenly realizes he doesn't know how to address him so many people have been calling him a lunatic a heretic a traitor Nicodemus settles on rabbi we know you're a teacher from God the things you do the miracles there's no other explanation [Music] the look in Jesus his eyes stops him short it's similar to the one that parents give their children that bemused look that says you have a lot left to learn when my son Finn was three years old I walked into the living room to find him flipping through picture books on the floor and planning the next day aloud tomorrow I'm going to play with my castle and I'm going to take a nap and read a book with Daddy and eat a pop-tart and I was struck by just how small his world really was another time about a year later shortly after we had told him that we were moving from a very sunny and warm place to Chicago he wandered up to me and he had heard from somewhere that Chicago was chilly and he asked me dad what does chilly mean and I thought oh buddy you're about to find out as kids we used to get that look all the time the one that says the boundaries of your world are bound to get so much bigger but Nicodemus is one of the most wise and intelligent people in all of Jerusalem he's a teacher of others he hasn't been made to feel like he has something left to learn in a very long time Nicodemus if you hope to learn what God is really up to you'll need to be born again born again how do you expect me to become a newborn you're the teacher but you don't understand not really no and then Jesus really confuses him like Moses lifted up the snake in the desert I'm going to be lifted up and whoever puts their trust in me will be saved saved what Jesus is referencing a story from thousands of years earlier Moses was leading God's people from Egypt to the land that he promised them and as they crossed a vast desert people were bitten by snakes and many were dying so God told Moses to fashion a bronze snake on a long pole and to lift it up among all the people and anyone who looked at it would be saved and Nicodemus knows this kind of strange story but he can't quite piece together what Jesus is trying to say through it and before he knows it the conversation is over Nicodemus had come with just one question who are you but as he hurries home his questions are growing exponentially but this much he thinks he's been able to piece together he'd called Jesus a rabbi a teacher but Jesus isn't claiming to be a teacher he's claiming to be the Savior and Nicodemus wonders what if I believe him [Music] what if you're right [Music] he was just another nice guy but if your what if it's true they say the cross link only made [Music] what if it's true what if he takes his place in history with all the prophets and who taught us more in Canaan peace then the story what but if you're what if there's more what there's hope never dreamed of hoping but if you die and just close your eyes whatever the yarns they catch you by what if what if it's love [Music] what way down deep you're single but if you do what a few thousand more unanswered questions down but if you've never dreamed of hoping for a future but if the arm the catch you catch you by surprise what if what if [Applause] with each passing month the crowds around Jesus are growing and the people seem divided between those who adore him and those who wish they could ignore him but in this room there's a little disagreement the Sanhedrin these men who make up the highest court the respectable rulers they feel as though they must protect the people from being diluted by a madman it doesn't hurt that by eliminating Jesus they're also protecting their own power Jesus must be silenced by whatever means necessary on this they're united except Nicodemus he has this feeling he hasn't been able to shake since that night on the rooftop their conversation had hardly made sense to him and yet he has the sense that there's something to this man Jesus he's been careful to keep those thoughts quiet they're all waiting guards that they've sent to arrest Jesus should be back any moment the Nicodemus hopes that it's not too late that their minds aren't entirely made up he hopes he'll still be able to ask Jesus who are you the guards are empty-handed the room erupts [Applause] [Music] if there were ever a moment for Nicodemus to speaka I attended a pretty small elementary school and my grade it was roughly the same 40 kids divided into two classes every year and I think a lot of us spent our summer break hoping that come fall we wouldn't be in a class with Caleb were still was if you ended up with an assigned seat next to him our teachers had to assign seats because nobody would willingly sit there his desk was always overflowing with papers and other trash and it wasn't just his desk that was a mess it was his hair his clothes his hands when the teachers would return papers they were always careful to make sure his was facedown so that nobody could see but everybody knew and between the whispers in class and shouts at recess everyone made sure Caleb knew exactly how they felt about him one afternoon we were reading aloud in class each kid taking a paragraph up and down the rows and when it came to Caleb he stumbled and he stuttered over every word and he hadn't even finished his sentence before the whole class was giggling and our teacher tried to shush us but soon it was all out laughter and I knew that I should say something I knew that what was happening wasn't right because I was always the good kid the nice kid the kid that anybody could be friends with but in reality I was in any of those things not if I couldn't be what I'm most needed to be when we're given the chance to say something and we don't say anything saying nothing says everything about us Nicodemus knows that if he doesn't say anything he'll be betraying what he's beginning to believe [Music] I started curious about who Jesus is about the nature of this man who's so mysterious I don't know who he is but what I know is this the situation is becoming very serious they wanna kill and make him suffer for his fame they'll crucify him and I'll be the one to blame but if I speak I'll be the one that they condemn what then I'll lose it all I will descend can comprehend what then just try and think it through before you go and do a thing that very well could sell the very end of human [Music] but don't be squeamish they contain to speak your mind try to leave your second guessing all behind don't maybe I should try to stay a little cautious like I've been because I feel nauseous but I'm so furious about the spurious charges that are hideous made by men delirious Vitara sorry curious about who Jesus is but I'm inclined to think he might be who he says he is [Music] our Civic hearing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Nicodemus his heart beats wildly nothing in his life seems to make sense anymore he's always prided himself on being in the right but what he's witnessing he can hardly see past the huge crowd that's gathered but he's desperate for a glimpse of Jesus as if seeing his face one more time might suddenly make his world make sense again and then he sees him as the cross has lifted up into the air and he remembers Jesus's words I'm going to be lifted up and whoever puts their trust in me will be saved and he suddenly understands Jesus saw this moment coming he knew it from the start and he loves so deeply that he did it anyway and Nicodemus is finally convinced Jesus isn't a lunatic or heretic he's not even a prophet or a teacher he's exactly who he claimed to be from the beginning he is the savior and whorin Nicodemus wonders what have they done everything he spent his whole life building all of the ambition for position for prestige for wealth look what it's accomplished and then he remembers something he'd found so confusing so many months ago Nicodemus you'll need to be born again maybe he can begin again maybe that's exactly what Jesus had been promising but just as he feels that his own life is truly beginning he watches as Jesus breathed his last he no longer cares who knows it doesn't care who sees he boldly asks to be given the body of Jesus he and another man carried Jesus to a nearby garden where one of them owns a tomb and as they begin the dirty work of preparing the body for burial Nicodemus uses a mixture of a spice called murder to bind with in the linen Clause they wrap around Jesus in the mixture weighs almost 75 pounds it is worth a staggering sum at the hands of Nicodemus Jesus receives a burial vet would be the envy of Kings and then as the Sun begins to set they placed Jesus body in the tomb and Nicodemus looks down at his hands that are now covered in Jesus's blood and he tries to comprehend how this could possibly be the end not knowing that the best is yet to come

Channel: Willow Creek Community Church

Views: 22,783

Rating: 4.8172045 out of 5

Keywords: Willow Creek Community Church, Love Everyone Always, Willow Creek Church, Willow Creek, Willow, Church, Faith, Hope, Love, God, Jesus, Easter, Willow Creative, Nick Benoit, Nicodemus, Sanhedrin

Id: 32e37amZbb8

Length: 19min 15sec (1155 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 02 2018